Yokohama Geolander A/T-S

They did well. But I wasn't bogging through anything serious. The only time they even slipped was right as I took off from where I parked for the pic above, front slipped on some wet roots, back slid around a bit on the mud, and then the car got grip somewhere and pushed right on through. That's about a 5-6 inch ridge leading out of that little gully the back is sitting in. We don't have much rocky terrain in FL, but we've plenty of swampy mud and sugar sand...

Since I was alone, and on the way home from work, I didn't have anyone to pull me out if I got stuck. I didn't feel like moving tons of mud with my little entrenching tool, so I limited myself to conditions I knew I could pull out of. I just wanted to dirty them up and see how they handled the slippery stuff, so far so good.

As soon as I pulled onto the road on the way out and got up to 35 MPH or so, all the mud was thrown clear of the treads. The stock ones would load up with small pebbles and sticks and other debris, and it wouldn't come clear easily. Not a big deal, but these are an improvement. From 0-35 it sounded like I was driving down a gravel road from all the crap thrown at the fender liners. Nice!

I've only had them for just under a week, so I can't really give a fair review of them. But I've heard more good than bad, and the price was right at $650.00 mounted, balanced, and installed.

I got them at a local chain store, Discount Tire. They were right about the same price out the door as if I ordered them from Tire Rack and had them shipped and mounted locally. But the Discount Tire hires local folks, and offers lifetime balancing with tires you buy from them with the install. So... I've bought from Tire Rack, but the local guys got the nod this time.

The tire installer looks at my OB, with the lift, skids, and optional mud and dirt and says "you actually use this one offroad, don't you?" Bet they see lots of grocery getters that look off-road ready, but never leave tarmac...

I used Yoko Geolandar A/T-S tires year-round on a 2011 OB. That was in the Columbia River Gorge, in Stevenson, WA. We'd get 8" of snow at a time. Not epic amounts by any means, but enough to leave many standard FWD cars stuck.

They also seemed to work out in Klickitat County, WA, in snow up to 9"-10" deep, even with 25k miles on them. I had to be careful on icy roads, but they were still quite manageable.

I carried chains in winter, but never needed them. Also did not bother swapping to true "winter" tires. So, in my experience, they were an excellent year-round tire, even on snowy/icy roads.

They did dent fuel economy a bit... but I can't remember how much. That changeover was a while ago, on a previous OB, and those fuel logs are filed away.

On the 2013, I'll try going through winter on the Contis (carrying chains, of course). They do fine on gravel, traction-wise... but they are getting torn up pretty quick by the rocks. I may be going back to the Geolandars.

They do look a lot better on the OB than the stock Contis. Much more fitting for a car called "Outback" that sits as high off the ground as it does. With the Geolandars, the wheel well gap looks purposeful. With stockish city tires, it just looks like poor fitment.

I realize this thread is ancient, but I had to share. I just installed a Set of 225x60R 17 AT/S on my 2013 2.5i Premium (all stock) Plus an alignment from Nate Wade Subaru in SLC Utah, price was 144.00 Each before install, about 679.00 just for t6he tires, and 96.00 I think for the alignment. I aim to have an alignment done at every tire change, and when something strikes my tires where I think it is affecting the track of the vehicle.

Driving to work from the dealership on the freeway above 70MPH and it is obvious, they are much quieter than my 2/32nd's worn out Conti Pro Contacts that they replaced; for that alone I am pleased...I got 36K with rotations every 5K out of the Conti's which left me miffed because they are rated at 80K, (semi spirited on road but not like WRX or STI drivers, its a slow as **** OB and I know that!) and I always felt uneasy on long gravel roads with the Conti Pro contacts.

I wanted a more Offroadable more durable tire with a better sidewall but retaining good on road manners...so far after all of the reading I have done online particularly with Austrailan reviews, who's climate is similar to the hot desert area outside Salt Lake City, it seems the Yokohama Geolandar A/T S is THE tire for a light AWD Subaru outback if you plan on 10% or a little more of your travels on long gravel and rocky roads, any more authentic off roading plans and you might consider a more aggressive more durable off-road tire like BF Goodrich T/A KO-2; but then you should likely also be considering a different kind of vehicle.

I like how the Yokohama's are more rugged but aren't over the top and don't look like obvious jeep tires, it kind of fits the do all personality of the Outback quite well...Thanks to this thread and the thousands of reviews I have poured over in the last 3 weeks, I am confident I made a good choice in tire for the next 5 years for my intended use of my Outback, driving long Gravel and dirt roads across the desert looking for photographic opportunities in comfort...we shall see how the treads play out.

I plan on updating here when I have more to share. Fingers Crossed, but I like how they look and feel already. I expect to lose about 1-2 MPG due to the larger more heavy tire...lets not pretend that an offroadable tire with more rubber is going to outperform a lighter low rolling resistance Road tire in MPG ratings..it simply won't, but the tradeoff hopefully is more longevity offroad 60-80 miles from anything and everything, and I just bought into that.